KARACHI: Sindh Commission on the Status of Women (SCSW) on Wednesday said it would announce its Fatima Jinnah and Shaheed Benzair Bhutto awards for women registering remarkable contributions in Sindh on Feb12 marking National Women’s Day, said commission chairperson Nuzhat Shirin in a report issued on completion of the organisation’s first year.

The report said it reviewed seven laws and conducted monitoring visits to nine districts and prepared recommendations on improving police stations and educational institutions in Sindh.

The commission visited Darul Aman in Hyderabad and Larkana and prepared reports with recommendations on the visits. It has drafted its first three-year strategic plan with support from UN Women.

The SCSW said it prepared standard operating procedures (SOPs) for safe houses in Sindh as per orders of the Sindh High Court in the verdict of Rehana Bibi case, 2016.

Report issued on completion of SCSW’s first year

The report said the commission played an active role in the general elections wherein in addition to holding dialogues with female candidates contesting in the elections, it observed several polling stations on the day of elections from a gender lens.

It maintained a database of female candidates from all parties in Sindh and followed up with a record of women who entered the parliament this year. The Sindh Commission on the Status of Women also conducted sensitisation training of 52 child protection unit officers regarding child abuse.

The report said the commission had developed a mechanism whereby it dealt with the legislation that was forwarded to it by the relevant departments for reviewing through a gender lens. The commission established committees of relevant members and civil society activists for dealing with particular issues.

“First, we hold a larger consultation with the law committee of the SCSW and relevant stakeholders, such as lawyers who fought cases of survivors of acid attack for reviewing the Acid Crime Prevention Bill. Keeping the minutes of the consultation in mind, we then hold smaller discussions with our legal experts who advised us on how to incorporate recommendations from consultation into the law. The commission then incorporates the amendments as per directions of its legal experts such as (SHC judges) Majida Razvi and Shaiq Usmani, into the law and forwards the amended bill/Act to the relevant department.”

It said the commission had used such mechanism for effectively improving legislation in Sindh for a year now as it had proved to be the most thorough and efficient practice.

“The commission plans on also holding consultations to review and make rules for the Anti-Street Harassment Bill 2018 and push for legislation in Sindh for a Bill of Rights and Protection for Transgenders.”

Mai Bakhtawar Award

The SCSW, it added, developed a mechanism for the Mai Bakhtawar Award. An impartial committee was formed which reviewed applications received through public announcement of the award. To commemorate this announcement and a token of appreciation, the chairperson awarded Rs5,000 to five women for their exemplary services to the community.

“This process will also be followed for the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto and Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah Awards which will be awarded for lifetime contributions by women in various fields, including politics, business, science, teaching, technology, banking, and sports to support equal participation of women in all economic and social spheres of life.”

The report said the commission had constituted committees comprising experts from civil society and government sectors who assisted the commission in planning and executing its operations. These are: advisory committee, executive committee, finance, law, media, health, education, economic empowerment, violence against women, research and publication, legal experts, and political participation committees.

Seven laws reviewed

The commission reviewed seven provincial laws and proposed amendments to them after consultations with legal and social experts on the issue. Three of those laws have been sent to be tabled in the provincial legislature. They are: The Divorce Act No. IV of 1869, the Christian Marriage Act, 1872, and the Sindh Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2018.

The commission sent amendments on the four laws ie Sindh Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Act, 2016, the Sindh Dowry and Bridal Gifts Restriction Act, 2017, The Sindh Home Based Workers Act, 2018, and The Sindh Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act, 2013. These laws will soon be presented before the cabinet.

Regarding The Sindh Protection against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act, 2018, the commission consulted with various experts and recommended that the act should include protection to transgenders and men. It was also actively participating in drafting rules of the Act for its effective implementation.

Code of Conduct against harassment

After its constitution, the commission sent letters to more than 20 departments of the Sindh government and instructed them to display the Code of Conduct against harassment and furnish report about steps taken to constitute the anti-harassment committees as per law in the departments.

The commission visited three universities in the province on fact finding missions regarding cases of alleged harassment, ie Sindh University, Karachi University, and Shaheed Benazir Bhutto University, Nawabshah.

The commission instructed the vice chancellors to display code of conduct on their campuses, and update the SCSW about constitution of anti-harassment committees. It also asked for detailed reports on steps taken to make the institutions free from harassment.

It said the SCSW was the first entity to take up the issue of dowry in Sindh. It had been working on the proposed Dowry Restriction Bill for a year now. A legal consultant was hired for the commission to amend the bill.

The commission in reviewing the Acid Crime Prevention Bill inserted many important amendments such as the absence of transgender rights and other issues which included ATC trial for acid crimes; penalty be increased to Rs2.5 million and at least life sentence has been recommended.

The commission visited remote rural swathes such as Gharano, Jhangara, Mangro Maghar, and Foto Burfat to witness the condition of schools for girls. Jhangara had only one school and it was too far so most people refused to send their girls. Tando Allahyar district had only one school offering education up to grade-5. The schools set up by an NGO pays Rs3,000-Rs5,000 a month to teachers which was much below the legal minimum wage in Sindh. There is a severe shortage of female schoolteachers which further keeps female students from being able to attend school as their parents did not allow them to study by male teachers.

“The commission is about to furnish a detailed report on the status of education available to women in Sindh. It has recommended that there should be at least a high school available at every taluka.”

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2018